Inanyculture，thedevelopmentofself-controlisimportant．Thisability，whichdependsontheprefrontalcortex（前颚皮层），providesthebasisformentalflexibility，socialskillsandregulation．Itpredictssuccessineducation，ca

　　In any culture，the development of self-control is important．This ability，which depends on the prefrontal cortex（前颚皮层），provides the basis for mental flexibility，social skills and regulation．It predicts success in education，career and marriage．Indeed，childhood self-control is twice as important as intelligence in predicting academic achievement．Contrarily，poor self-control in primary school increases the risk of adult financial difficulties，criminal behavior，single parenthood and drug dependence．

　　Traditionally，Asian students succeed in part because they show good self-control from an early age．In one study，Chinese preschoolers were six months ahead of American children in developing mental control．Another study found that Korean 3-year-olds did as well on such tasks as British children who were 17-months older．

　　Self-control can be built through practice．Chinese parenting emphasizes child training，which combines close supervision（监管） of performance with strong financial support and motivation for the child's efforts．This approach comes at a great cost to parents and children．East Asian students study long and hard．

　　Fortunately for American parents，psychologists find that children can develop self-control through their own effort．Behavior is powerfully shaped not only by parents or teachers but also by children themselves．The key is to take advantage of the child's own drives for play，social interaction and other rewards．

　　Effective approaches for building self-control combine fun with progressively increasing challenges．Rather than force activities onto an unwilling child，take advantage of his or her individual tendencies．When children develop self-control through their own effort for happiness，no parental guidance is required．Find something that the child is crazy about but that requires active effort．Whether it's doing baseball statistics or making （but not passively watching） YouTube videos，favorite hobbies build mental stayin